Life on the Fifth Floor: Thriving in Our 50s

By Dana Waters

Life on the Fifth Floor is about navigating and thriving in our 50s, when many people grapple with health concerns, career transitions, financial planning for retirement, and shifting family dynamics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dana Waters
• Release date: Aug 11, 2025
• ISBN: 9781088279465

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DEDICATION

To Kim, my husband, true love, and life partner: Your unwavering love has been the foundation upon which everything else stands. Thank you for your end- less support, encouragement in moments of doubt, and the love that sustains us throughout our lives.

To my beloved children, Taze, Mikey, Melvie, Kimberly, and Kayla: You have each been a boundless source of inspiration, wisdom, and love throughout my journey. I sincerely hope this book encourages you to continue exploring the in- credible gifts within you. May it remind you that our growth and potential are limitless and constantly evolving. You are the heart of my purpose, and I dedicate this work to the brilliance and beauty you each bring into the world.

To my sisters, family, and extended family: Your love and support have added immeasurable value and depth to my journey. Each of you has played a unique and irreplaceable role in shaping who I am today. I am filled with a heartfelt appreciationfortheloveandbondsthathavesustainedmethroughthisjourney.

And to you, dear readers: Thank you for embarking on this journey with me. Your willingness to explore these pages means more than words can express. Wherever you are in your journey, I hope this book offers you insights, inspira- tion, and the courage to embrace your path entirely. May you find the strength to overcome challenges, the wisdom to learn from every experience, and the deter- mination to thrive in all you do.

FOREWORD

In my youth, I wasn’t raised in a nurturing environment. I lacked exposure to law-abiding citizens, educated people, or progressive lifestyles. I witnessed and experienced many things that young people should never have to endure. Those experiences left me with a burning desire to seek a different life. I committed to forging my path, distinct from the behaviors I observed during my upbringing. From a very young age, I was determined to change the trajectory of past genera- tions. It was me, my faith, and my determination against the world.

Over the decades, I have balanced businesses, corporate careers, family, and friendships while moving across states. I have been a California Orange and a Georgia Peach, and I kept Austin weird for a while. One constant remained through it all: wherever I went, there I was.

As I reflected on how I had arrived at 50, I realized I wasn’t fully prepared for what I now call life on the fifth floor. I spent my earlier years raising children while still growing up myself, navigating relationships and marriages, earning my education and degrees, launching businesses, and building corporate careers. Amidst all that, I was also trying to figure out who I was meant to be. It was as if I blinked, and suddenly, I was 50. The realization hit me hard—this was happening, and there was no turning back.

I found myself in a strange mix of gratitude and fear. I was grateful to have made it this far, but I was also terrified for reasons I was still trying to understand. This new chapter of life brought a whirlwind of emotions, and I was ready to face it head-on with all the wisdom, experience, and resilience I had gathered along the way.

Despite facing many challenges, setbacks, failures, and losses—and with lit- tle guidance or direction—I reached the fifth floor with remarkable accomplish- ments and success. I landed here bruised but not broken. This journey demanded an incredible amount of faith and resilience. I’m excited to leverage the collective wisdom from those experiences and lessons to create and share curated resources on thriving on the fifth floor in this fifth decade of life.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to thrive is to grow and flour- ish vigorously, prosper and grow in wealth, and progress toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances. So, let’s thrive!

INTRODUCTION

People in their 50s often grapple with concerns related to health, career tran- sitions, financial planning for retirement, empty-nest syndrome as children leave home, and a heightened awareness of aging. Maintaining physical and mental well-being, navigating changes in family dynamics, and reassessing life goals are common focal points during this stage of life. Not many people have the privilege of a mentor.

Entering my 50s, I had many questions about what to anticipate. I was ready to do whatever I could to prepare to make this next chapter of my life better than its previous chapters. After all, I had 50 years of experience. So, since my pain, failures, losses, and successes have gotten me this far, I wanted to know how to use them to better my current and future life. I began asking people in my circle who were already in or had gone through their 50s for advice or words of wisdom. However, I did not get as much value as I hoped because most of the re- sponses I received weren’t compatible with what I needed. Some weren’t even able to respond. Thinking back, I realized I did not get the counsel I needed because I wasn’t clear on what I wanted to know. I was merely afraid of the unknown.

I knew I was starting to look at and feel life differently, and I was hoping for some direction. My body was changing, my mindset was shifting, and I some- times questioned my purpose again (even though I thought I had figured that out years ago)! I began thinking I was the only person feeling this way or seeking answers, guidance, and direction, or perhaps I was overthinking things again. I started searching for answers online, but there was too much information in different places and nothing that offered curated information with applicable solutions or guidance. I also found tons of coaching programs that promised to help. Nevertheless, after lengthy consideration, I felt I had enough experience. If I could make my experiences make sense, I could progress and help others along the way.

This book is for those entering their 50s and those curious about thriving in the fifth decade of life. Whether you seek to reset, level up, or completely reinvent yourself, this book is for you! You will explore several transformative experiences commonly encountered in one’s 50s.

In the fifth decade of life, many often experience an identity shift and desire elevation in their relationships, health, mindset, approaches, and life strategies. By now, priorities and values may have shifted, resulting in questions like, Is where I have been up to this point giving me what I want? Am I living in my pur- pose? Am I living my dreams? Am I acting on my ideas? Am I progressing for- ward? Am I being the best version of myself that I can be? As the C.E.O. of our lives, we get to choose how we live out this decade and the rest of our lives. Let’s map out this decade by putting our collective experiences and lessons learned to work to step into a new level of abundance!

WELCOMETOTHEFIFTHFLOOR!

Like it or not, you have arrived. Be grateful that you’re here. The gift of life doesn’t stop here. It’s just beginning! Your future starts NOW. It may feel and look different, but this is the beginning of the rest of your life! This is where you get to take a 360-view of your life, reset, level up, and rediscover yourself and your full potential. Together, we will explore why and how. If you are reading this book, you will want to get the Life on the Fifth Floor Guided Journal. It is the companion workbook where action and accountability are upheld.

We will journey through where we have been and are now and develop a pathway to get what we want out of life and where we want to be. In the pages ahead, there will be curated information on transformative topics, short stories about my life, testimonies from some of my dearest friends and people who are experts in their field, quotes and insights from applicable renowned authors, and links to helpful resources. We will reimagine the next chapter of our lives and rediscover who we are and want to be: visualize it, feel it, believe it, and create it.

The resources and recommendations included in this book are provided for informational purposes only. I do not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of any external content. None of the content in this book is intended to offer medical ad- vice, and readers should seek the guidance of a qualified healthcare professional for any medical concerns or questions.

One of the many exciting things about being on the fifth floor is that we are not starting over. We are starting from experience. We will use our collective experiences as leverage to write the following chapters of our story on our terms and create the life of our dreams. Let’s dive in and pursue our greatness!

The best way to predict your future is to create it.

-PeterDrucker

CHAPTERONE

THEFIFTHFLOORJOURNEY

REFLECTION: EMBRACING STRENGTH, WISDOM, AND PURPOSE

After a long climb of many flights, we finally made it to the fifth floor. Whew, that was a long, arduous journey full of trials, tribulations, lessons, inspirations, and valuable insights! Let’s start with some appropriate questions as we navigate life on the fifth floor: Where have I been up to this point? Does my behavior align with who I am and what I want to accomplish? Am I living in my purpose and acting on my ideas? What am I willing to take with me into this next decade of life? Looking back on past experiences provides perspective on how far we have come, what we have achieved, and the challenges we have overcome. Some things that we reflect on may come with some pain or shame. However, let’s re- member that there would be no strength without the struggle.

Reflecting on past successes and failures facilitates personal growth and de- velopment. It enables us to recognize our strengths and weaknesses, areas for improvement, and opportunities for personal development. In her book, Living Courageously, Joyce Meyer shared, We live forward, but we understand it back- ward. I look back now and see how most of the tough things I went through in life have worked out for my good and helped shape me into the person I am to- day. My problems not only didn’t kill me, but they made me stronger! When we identify behaviors that don’t serve or propel us forward, we can address, correct, and leave them behind.

By acknowledging these behaviors, we can avoid repeating them in the pres- ent. This can lead to better decision-making and also instill a sense of gratitude, resilience, and motivation to continue striving for improvement in the present. It’s our time to live a life of abundance, purpose and peace, passion, fire, and re- silience! Let’s take a brief trip to the past to reflect on some of these lessons and identify what serves us and what doesn’t. The lessons we learned along the way were specifically for us and are invaluable to who we are today as we climb to this fifth floor.

Past lessons, especially from mistakes and failures, provide valuable opportu- nities for growth and improvement. They help us accumulate wisdom and knowl- edge over time, enabling us to navigate future challenges with greater insight and understanding. By understanding what went wrong in the past, we can anticipate potential consequences, weigh our options more effectively, make better deci- sions in the future, and avoid repeating the same errors. Past events and outcomes alsoallowustoidentifypatternsandtrends.Thisishandyinrecognizingrecur-

ring issues, understanding their underlying causes, and developing strategies that proactively address them. These outcomes help us build resilience by equipping us with the knowledge and skills to withstand adversity. By learning from past setbacks and successes, we can readily develop new ideas, approaches, solutions, and critical problem-solving skills to navigate future uncertainties and map our lives here on the fifth floor.

Life (including those failures) gives us the tools to experience, grow and learn. Our failures do not define who we are. Do you know why? We can experience something and not be that thing. Over the years, I’ve had to put in much work to unlearn some behaviors that I learned as a youth, especially the ones I adopted in response to traumas I suffered. Those behaviors were unproductive, self-sabo- taging, limiting, and hindering me from reaching new heights. I was a victim of my circumstances and had a victim mentality for many years. I won’t get into the details of those events because that would require me to write another book. The short story is that my family was plagued with mental illness, addiction, incar- ceration, racism, poverty, and hatred, so I was born into utter dysfunction. They loved me the best way they knew how, but I would often believe they had no right to bring a child into this world. But apparently, I was supposed to be here. I am here. And I am grateful I’ve made